Honor Adam: Help End the Stigma of Addiction

This October 12th, I am running the CAPE COD MARATHON in honor of my brother Adam who passed 10 years ago this September after a long-fought battle against Substance Use Disorder.

How many times in your life have you leaned on something or made a regrettable decision when you were at a low? Pain and suffering make us vulnerable to escapism and making poor choices to cope with whatever we are trying our best to endure or avoid. How many bad decisions started there…with the hope to escape or dull pain when we were feeling desperate? To soothe the hidden part of us we fear is broken beyond repair?

This disorder effects everyone to some capacity. If not in a direct way, an indirect way. We all know someone who has struggled with addiction, and we have watched them and their families helplessly suffer through as their lives chaotically dismantle one brick at a time.

All too often, people with SUD do not get help because they feel stigma and shame admitting they have a problem and asking for help.

In 2016 a few months after my brother passed, I was invited to speak at my sister’s pre-med emergency medicine course. I asked the professor to have her students write on an anonymous piece of paper a deeply regrettable shameful mistake they made in a time of weakness, despair, desperation, pain. A secret they wanted to take to their grave.

I read these secrets out loud to the class as my opening and asked if anyone wanted to raise their hand and own it.

Notable secret were things like… had an affair with my spouse’s best friend. Took my kid’s ADHD meds to study. Drove drunk, hit someone’s parked car in their driveway and drove away. Opened a credit card in my grandparent’s name without telling them. Lied on my application to pre-med that probably helped me get in. These were soon to be physicians. A few people raised their hand out of maybe 50+ students to own these decisions. I’d imagine the others didn’t because it would have exposed them and they would have been humiliated.

We are all capable of doing regrettable things. WE ARE ALL HUMAN.

Now imagine walking around completely exposed with your deep dark secret exposed and trying to simultaneously repent. That’s what people with Substance Use Disorder do every day. They live with a scarlet letter on their chest and it needs to end. They are someone’s beloved brother, sister, mom, dad, wife, husband, daughter, son, friend who need help finding their way back and should be congratulated for having the bravery and tenacity to do so, not shamed.

The stigma needs to end.

In the United States:

• 8.1% men and 4.5% women are reported to have Substance Use Disorder

• Approximately 11% of veterans in the US have been reported to have Substance Use Disorder

• Young adults aged 18-25 have the highest rates of substance use disorders, with about 20.8% affected.

• 40-60% of individuals in recovery may experience relapse at some point

• In 2022, there were over 80,000 opioid-related deaths in the U.S., with fentanyl being a major contributor. For 2024, projections indicate that these numbers may continue to rise if current trends persist.

My goal is to raise at least 5k and donate to Shatterproof. Shatterproof aims to support individuals and families affected by substance use disorders through advocacy, education, and the promotion of evidence-based treatment. Their funding primarily goes towards public awareness campaigns, educational resources, advocacy for policy changes, and developing a network of support for those in recovery. The organization emphasizes research and collaboration to improve addiction treatment and reduce stigma. Eighty cents for every dollar is contributed.

Not a day has gone by where I have not felt proud of my brother and if I had to pick a brother out of all of the endless possibilities of brothers that could have been …I would pick him every time despite it all. Your life and death hold deep meaning and purpose. Thank you Adam for the lessons you have taught me while you were here and the ones you continue to teach me since you’ve been away.

One day at a time and for me on race day, it'll be one step at a time.

This one’s for you brother. I love you.